The Austin-based financial consulting and support services company is opening a Denver office and expects to expand its staff of 55 by 10 to 12 before the end of this year.

Within a year, the company should employ at least 100 people, says Scott Killingsworth, vice president of operations.

To head the new office, the company hired Dan Hudspeth, former chief financial officer, treasurer and corporate secretary at Displaytech Inc., a company in Longmont, Colo., that produces microdisplays for digital cameras, camcorders and personal communication products. Hudspeth has 20 years of financial experience and has taken three companies public.

Vcfo has hired five employees for the new office, which is set to open in mid-September.

Privately held Vcfo, founded in 1996, provides temporary financial consulting and administrative support. The company's clients range from startups to big corporations such as Hewlett-Packard Co.

CEO Ellen Wood says the company got its feet wet with expansion when it opened its Dallas office three years ago.

"Denver is this year's challenge," she says. "Next year, we'll look at additional markets; those markets will most likely have the same characteristics as Dallas or Denver."

Wood says the company has a "couple of candidates" for expansion on the East and West coasts, but the company is keeping an "open mind" about new locations.

As for deciding to open a third office in Denver, Wood says the company did a thorough search for cities with strong entrepreneurship and a healthy network of financial executives. Once the company came across Hudspeth, Denver was chosen, Wood says.

"Dan certainly has the right experience set, and he has the entrepreneurial spirit. He's a real team player, which is important to the way we operate," Wood says.

Killingsworth says the Denver office could grow to as much as three times its current size by the end of next year.

For companies such as Vcfo, Killingsworth says, demand for financial executives has picked up simply because the economy is picking up.

"The economy has definitely rebounded from where it was three years ago. So I think that with the economy growing and businesses responding to that, we're seeing growth in demand for our services," Killingsworth says.

Killingsworth says the company also plans to expand its services, starting with human resources. Aside from providing financial assistance, the company now provides such HR services as organizational design and development, packages for new hires, and establishment of policies and procedures.

Chris Allen, vice president of communication for Financial Executives International, says the demand for people with financial skills has been on the rise since Sarbanes-Oxley financial requirements took effect for public companies in 2002.

"The accounting firms and second-tier firms have all been on hiring binges because they have more work," Allen says. "They're in the market for additional people to help them carry out new work."